The Senate will confirm Mike Pompeo as secretary of state on Thursday. Samantha Bee makes a case why it shouldn't.

Mike Pompeo was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Senate has scheduled a final confirmation vote for CIA Director Mike Pompeo early Thursday afternoon, and with four Democrats and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) saying they will join all Republican in supporting Pompeo for secretary of state, his confirmation is all but assured. The Senate will then leave for a weeklong recess, and if confirmed, Pompeo will immediately fly to Brussels for a NATO summit. "The secretary-designate Mike Pompeo is prepared to travel to the meeting of foreign ministers to reaffirm our commitment to NATO and coordinate the alliance's response to Russian aggression," a senior administration official told Axios.

Pompeo was narrowly endorsed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, avoiding an embarassing negative recommendation only after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) flipped to back him, and on Wednesday's Full Frontal, Samantha Bee dug a bit into Pompeo's history and past statements on gay rights and Islam, providing some examples of why the CIA director has so little Democratic support to be America's face to the world.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.